COLUMNS
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Snap Shots

Modern Medicine

Heart to Heart with Hillary

A Slice of Thai History

Personal Directions

Social Commentary by Khai Khem

Snap Shots: The Rule of 12 - or 12 rules for 12 months

by Harry Flashman

It is the New Year and there should not be one amateur (or professional) photographer who does not wish to improve their photography. Well, there shouldn’t be anyone who doesn’t! For you, the keen amateur, I present my Rule of 12, which if you follow them through, I will guarantee you will get better photographs. And get more fun out of your photography.

Rule 10, daylight flash

The first is simply to use more film. Photography, like any sport, recreation or pursuit is something where the more you do it and practice it, the better you get. That just means putting more film through the camera. Film and processing is really the cheapest part of photography, especially when you compare it to the purchase price of a half decent camera. Use more film!

The one major fault in most amateur photographs is taking the shot from too far away. From now on, make the subject the “hero” and walk in several metres closer to make the subject fill the frame.

Focussing! With modern auto-focus cameras the most obvious focussing problem is where the subject is off-centre. The magic eye doesn’t know this and focuses on the background, leaving your close-up subject soft and blurry. Focus on the subject and use the focus lock facility of your camera.

Tripods I have mentioned recently, but one of these will expand your picture taking no end. Camera shake becomes a thing of the past, and you will take more time to compose your shots.

Don’t be afraid to process half rolls - it will keep your interest and enthusiasm going. If your photo-processor doesn’t do it, change your photo-shop.

Keep your interest and pride in your work by making enlargements of your better photos. At around 80 baht for most places, this is very cheap and enlargements do make good presents at Xmas time too.

We all get lazy and it is too easy to end up just taking every picture in the horizontal (landscape) format. Make it a habit to always take two shots of each subject - one in the horizontal format and the other in the vertical. You can get some surprising results that way. Don’t be lazy - do it!

With colour photography, which covers about 99.99% of most people’s pictures these days, the one major factor to give your skies and seas and scenery some colour oomph is the use of a polarizing filter. Get one and use it.

You will always miss some “classic” shots and regret it later, but you certainly will never get them if you don’t have a camera (with film) with you. With so many incredible photo opportunities in Thailand, you should be photographically ready at all times!

To give your daytime shots some extra sparkle, use “fill-in” flash. Most new cameras have a little setting that will do this automatically for you - even with point and shooters. If you haven’t, then spend some time learning how to do it. It’s worth it when you see the results you get.

To give yourself the impetus to go out and take photos, develop a project and spend your leisure time building up the images. It can be flowers or fashion, cars or canaries, but fix on something and follow it through. It’s worth it, just for the fact that it makes you become an “enquiring” photographer.

Finally, at the end of every year, give the camera a birthday by buying it some new batteries. You won’t have a problem damaging the sensitive innards with neglected battery acid and the camera’s light metering system will work correctly every time. It’s cheap insurance.

Here is the list to cut out, laminate and put in the camera bag.

1. Use more film
2. Walk several metres closer
3. Use the focus lock
4. Buy a tripod
5. Process half rolls of film
6. Make enlargements of your better prints
7. Use different formats
8. Use a polarizing filter
9. Carry your camera with you
10. Use the flash during the day
11. Develop a project
12. Change the batteries


Modern Medicine: One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and one cough isn’t SARS

by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant

2003 was an interesting year from the medical point of view. We ‘discovered’ a new epidemic called SARS and also discovered that the news-hungry media needed a good threat to the world to sell newspapers, after the Iraq War travesty lost its appeal when the weapons of mass deception were not found.

Unfortunately we are now in the situation that when anyone gets the slightest chesty cough they seem to think that they are the next carrier of the sequel SARS II. Let me assure you that the chance of that happening is about as high as dying from being hit on the head by flying pig poo.

However, there has been quite an epidemic of coughs and colds recently, so if you didn’t get a cough consider yourself to be lucky. The latest bout has been a form of Tracheitis. This is inflammation of the trachea, that part of your breathing tube to the lungs before it splits to become the right and left bronchus. The clue is in the ending - “itis” which generally means inflammation and / or infection. Thus you can get Appendicitis (inflammation of the Appendix) and Pharyngitis (inflammation of the pharynx) etc., etc, you get the picture.

Infection and irritation of the breathing tubes is, as we said in the beginning, very common. With Tracheitis, it generally begins as a slight irritation deep in the back of your throat. There can be some soreness as well, even on swallowing. Unchecked this develops into a ‘productive’ cough, with loads of gunk being coughed up, which we refer to as ‘sputum’.

One of the signs and symptoms your doctor will want to know is, “What colour is your sputum?” This gives us a chance to see if your cough is from an irritation or infection. If you are bringing up large lumps of yellow or green glue then you have an infection, but if the mucous is clear then you probably do not harbour a nasty little bug in your throat. If, however, the sputum is red and bloodstained then you may have burst a little blood vessel in the throat - or of course, this could be an early sign of lung cancer - but don’t panic yet!

If the sputum you are coughing up is thick, green and gooey, this is fairly suspicious of a bacterial infection, and sometimes we will attempt to ‘grow’ the bug to identify it. No, this is not for germ warfare, it is just so that we can feed the tracheal bug some different antibiotics to see which ones exterminate the bug best. This is a much more accurate way of choosing the correct antibiotic, than selecting ones by the price or the pretty colour they are on the pharmacy shelves.

If you have gone over a week and your cough is showing no sign of letting up then it really is time to line up with all the other coughers at the outpatients department. Just make sure you can describe the colour of your sputum!

I should have mentioned that if you are a smoker, the chances of the cough lasting longer are much higher, as well as being more likely to catch the cough from someone else - but it’s still not SARS. Smoking lowers your immunity, irritates your bronchial tubes and makes you more likely to develop all types of cancer. Think about it.


Heart to Heart with Hillary

Dear Hillary,

My rabbit’s foot has failed to bring me good luck lately, so I thought if I swapped it for a Koala Bear my luck might change. Santa Clause was in one of the large department stores recently and I was waiting my turn to give him my Christmas order. When I was seated upon his knee, he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I whispered in his ear, “A koala bear charm would be really neat.” On Christmas morning I was awoken by the sound of grumbling. I looked inside my Christmas stocking to find a real live naked koala. How could Santa have got it so wrong? Is it old age or does the beard around his ears need trimming so that it doesn’t interfere with his hearing? By the way, Christmas Day was so much fun with my koala friend after I got some furry clothes for him.

Mighty Mouse

Dear Mighty Mouse,

How nice to hear from you again, especially at Xmas time, when all little mice are just so busy. I am also glad to hear that you did something to stop your bear being bare, they get so cranky when they get cold I believe. You will also see that I had to alter your letter slightly, Petal. There are laws against that sort of thing, you know.

Dear Hillary,

What do you do about friends that keep on arriving from the old country? I’ve had six sets this year and it looks like there are more coming after New Year. If I had nothing else to do other than entertain old friends then it would be fine, but I have work I have to do as well. I don’t want to give old friends the cold shoulder, but I’m at my wits end, honestly! What should I do?

Guesthouse Gordon

Dear Gordon,

This is a very common problem when you live in a place that other people save for 11 months to come and visit. It is also very normal for your old friends to want to see you, and possibly save some money by staying with you. You actually have the answer already when you called yourself “Guest house” Gordon. Hillary suggests that you run the home more on the guest house lines. Tell your friends that as you have other work to do, you will leave everything out for them for their breakfast and then you will meet them for dinner at 7 p.m. and do the evening together from there. I am sure your friends will appreciate that even though they are on holidays, you are not. They need time to themselves too and will be grateful for the chances to explore on their own. Have some brochures in their room with suggested trips like the local travel agents and let them take it from there. They will be happy, you can do your work, and you can enjoy each other’s company at night.

Dear Hillary,

Our son, who is 39 years old, seems to have fallen in love with a local girl here in Thailand. He has had other ‘romances’ at home in Texas, but they have not been the sort of girls you would want your son to marry. His father and I were very pleased when they left after they could see his father and I were not going to welcome them into our home and lavish money on them. You know the gold-digger type. This local girl seems nice enough - his father and I came over to see what she is like, but is there some way we could check her background? We do not want to see him make some silly mistakes. He is talking about getting married.

Texas Mom

Dear Texas Mom,

How old is this “boy” of yours? 9 or 39? Heavens to Betsy, Texas Mom, let the young chap get on with his life without his parents interfering. By this stage in his life he should be on his second marriage, not waiting for Mom to approve. The only background that needs checking is his - to find out where he got such meddlesome parents.

Dear Hillary,

Is there something wrong with me? I’m from America and I am not used to going into a bar to be propositioned. I don’t want to have someone ask me where I come from. I don’t want people to know how much money I make. How many children I have is my affair. Why doesn’t someone tell these girls in the bars that not everyone wants to tell them personal details? I have one nice girl and I am happy. We are even looking at getting married soon.

Tex

Dear Tex,

Your Mom isn’t from Texas is she? You seem to have a real problem somewhere here. If you don’t want the sort of attention you describe, my Petal, then you should drink at different bars. You are obviously not taking your girl with you either, because if you did the girls would leave you alone. On looking at it, I think you should take Texas Mom with you and let her give these girls a lecture. It would be better for you, I am sure.


A Slice of Thai History: Taksin the Great and the Thonburi Period 1767-1782

Part One

by Duncan steam

Following the fall and destruction of Ayutthaya in April 1767 and the subsequent death of King Ekkathat, centralised rule in Thailand disintegrated in the wake of the, albeit brief, Burmese occupation. The Burmese presumed their destruction of Ayutthaya had rendered the Thai nation impotent as a major force in the region.

The Thais were, however, fortunate in having two military commanders blessed with above average ability: Phrya Taksin and Chaophraya Chakri (also known as Thong Duang and Yodfa Chulaloke).

Taksin, was born in Uttaradit (known as the city of ‘widows and virgins’ because it served as a battle front and a buffer against invading armies) to a Chinese father who was a minor court official in Ayutthaya. Taksin had been appointed governor of the province of Tak but had joined in the defence of the besieged Ayutthaya. Realising the city was doomed, he and Chaophraya Chakri had hacked their way out with around 500 men before the fall, retreating to Chantaburi and taking control of the eastern seaboard region.

The Burmese had left a division under a commander named Saki in control of the ruined Ayutthaya and the area south to Bangkok. Tong-In, a Thai collaborator, was appointed governor of Bangkok.

The remainder of the country was largely controlled by four men. At Uttaradit, a Buddhist monk known as the Priest Prince of Fang, held sway in the far north; Prince Teppipat, who had previously been banished to Sri Lanka (Ceylon), controlled the northeast from Pimai and Khorat; another man ruled the area around Phitsanulok and a fourth held sway in Nakhon Si Thammarat and the south.

Phrya Taksin was determined to re-unite the country but decided to do it alone. Taksin knew any attempt to combine the forces available to the various governors around the country would only lead to a renewed Burmese invasion. The element of surprise was essential.

Accordingly, he gathered his strength in Chantaburi and Chonburi and sailed to Bangkok in late October. Taksin launched a surprise attack, took the port, put Tong-In to death and then sailed on to Ayutthaya.

Taksin’s force took the ruined city after most of the defenders, Thai troops pressed into the service of the Burmese, defected. Saki decamped to a point south of Ayutthaya.

Taksin’s army moved against the Burmese force on 6 November 1767 and overwhelmed them in a day of fighting. The Thai commander then disinterred the body of King Ekkathat and accorded it full cremation honours.

Realising that the destruction of Ayutthaya had been so complete as to render the site almost indefensible, and aware that the Burmese would be able to muster forces far greater than those currently at his disposal, Taksin decided to establish the new Thai capital at Thonburi, on the west bank of what is now the main flow of the Chao Phrya River from the port of Bangkok. At the time, the Chao Phrya River flowed in greater volume west of Thonburi while the current main flow was merely a canal constructed in the mid-1500s.

There were five compelling reasons for choosing Thonburi. First, as a port it already had defensive walls and was small enough to make it easily defensible. Second, it was located on the bank of a deep water river with an equally deep water canal (now the main river) on its flank, thereby making defence easier. Third, if the city was in danger of collapse by siege, the defenders could easily make their escape towards Chantaburi. Fourth, because it was located near the mouth of the river, it controlled all communication from the north and south to the sea. Fifth, its location also made sea trade and communication easier and reduced the dependency on supply from the north of Thailand.


Personal Directions: It is going to be a great year!

by Christina Dodd

A friend said to me this week that he hoped the year 2004 would bring some dramatic and more positive changes to his life. Something we all hope for right? But before you get too excited about it, ask the question to yourself, “Who or what is going to bring the dramatic and positive changes you so earnestly hope for?” They are not going to jump out of nowhere and land in your lap are they! They are going to come about mostly as a result of you and what you do.

It’s so automatic for us to wish each other well and to “hope” for a better and brighter New Year. Let’s change what we say to something more affirmative, something like “2004 is going to be a great year for you”, or “you will have a fantastic year this new year”, or “it will be a year of enormous opportunity”. Let’s change the way we say things to a more energetic, positive and clear level.

You may think that season’s greetings and New Year wishes deserve a certain amount of traditional thought and expression. That is true to an extent and after all, we say them the way we do because it has become a habit. But why not do something differently to welcome the season and to bring in the New Year. Take the bull by the horns and change the way you do things this year right from the start.

Human beings are really quite remarkable. We want to have a better life, happy times, opportunity, better finances and all the things that go with that, but we want these things without having to do anything. We think that wanting them is enough to bring them! We forget that unless we change the way we do things, things are going to be just the same.

That’s exactly what is true of life. Life and the way you live it will stay the same if you keep living it the same way. Maybe for some of you that is precisely what you want. I suspect it is not the case for most people though. Life and the way you live it will and can definitely change, if you begin to change the way you do things, little by little, step by step and in earnest!

So with your life this year, what are you going to do to ensure it is going to be one of the best years in your life? Have you thought about it or are you going to let it simply control you and take you where it wants to go? Is that the way you are going to approach it? Rather like being in a rowing boat without any oars, being tossed about at the will of other influences. Is that how your year will be?

Or will your year have direction and focus right from day one? Is that how you are going to live 2004? I certainly will be - more correctly - I am living that right now. I cannot wake up each day unless it is with positive thought and imagination. I have been down the road of waking up with all my worries and problems and it is just so destructive in every way possible. To bring about differences, change the way you do things and if it is a simple change like waking up with a focused and inspired mind, then do it. You will immediately have a sense of well-being and it may just be a tiny step, but it is really and much bigger one than you think.

You can control the way you think and when you first open your eyes in the morning you can think positively, then you have the chance of having a positive day. That does not necessarily mean that your day will be easy. Being positive doesn’t mean that a task will be easy, but it will drive your confidence and energy and you will be more likely to achieve the task at hand.

Start each new day and wake up using you powers of imagination. Imagine your day and the things that you are going to achieve in the day. Imagine the processes and the results in an affirmative way. Imagine the success of a task as opposed to the failure of it. Your imagination is a powerful influence in the results of your day. It sets the tone for how you behave and act and think about things, and people. It is a force that you can develop to help you find focus and direction.

Of course keep hold of a sense of reality in this. This is an unspoken rule of life and achievement in life. If your imagination runs too wild and too far away from reasonable and achievable tasks, then you will be in for a big let-down and when this happens, you are most likely going to feel like a ton of bricks has hit you in the face and the result is you will lose your self-confidence. When self-confidence drops, it can have devastating effects and will make it that much harder for you to pick yourself up and get back into it. You will most likely give up, more than pick yourself up and carry on.

So, be realistic. Keep your finger on reality and begin your day with focused positive achievables. The moment your eyes open and you are awake, find clarity and calm. Try this to help you: sit up perhaps on the edge of the bed and close your eyes. Rest your hands palms up and open on your lap in a pose that is receptive to your thoughts. Relax the muscles in your face, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your back, and all the way down your body. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Inhale deeply again, and exhale slowly. When you inhale, imagine you are inhaling all the power of the universe inside you. Think of the beauty of this power. When you exhale, imagine you are releasing all the worry and stress and pain in your life and seeing it disappear before you. Inhale and exhale with these thoughts in your mind. Inhale deeply, exhale slowly. Inhale and exhale to the natural rhythm of your body.

If you take this simple exercise and practise it each morning it will give you a different view of the day and how you are going to live that day. It doesn’t take very long to do and the only way to know how it feels is to do it, right? So here is something that perhaps for some of you is different and can begin to change the way you act in life, for the better. Go ahead and try it. What have you got to lose? A few minutes which you should be devoting to yourself anyway. You are important and worth every second!

If you would like a presentation on our training or life coaching services, or any of our other professional and life skills programs, then please contact me at Christina.dodd @asiatrainingassociates.com

Until next time, have a tremendous week!


Social Commentary by Khai Khem:  A new year, a fresh start

The New Year is a universal occasion for lavish parties and grand celebrations. We say farewell to the old year, sometimes with sentimental regret that a very good year has passed and will never come round again. Sometimes we say goodbye to a year that’s been 12 months of nothing but aggravation and disappointment and are glad to see the end of it. Each of us has had bad years we’re happy to see the back of, and as we countdown the minutes to midnight; the New Year is welcomed with hope and optimism.

This is the time we start to make a list of New Year resolutions. These are promises made to ourselves - commitments to certain changes that we’ve been meaning to make, but have neglected to implement for one reason or another in the past. Many New Year resolutions are often tossed aside when the euphoria of the moment has passed and the New Year is no longer new. But we can still give them a try.

I recently asked friends about their resolutions for 2004. Many responses included the common promises to stop smoking, lose weight, get more exercise, join a gym, work harder for that promotion, refurbish the family homestead, and spend more time with the spouse and kiddies.

A night out with the ‘boys’ in South Pattaya proved more amusing. One gentleman actually pulled a written list from his shirt pocket and read out a long list of things he plans to change for the New Year. His list dealt with problems he’d been having with his live-in girlfriend and her family. He intended to put his house up for sale and buy a one-room bed-sit so small that her extended family would have to sleep on the high-rise balcony when they descended en mass for a visit. His new rule for them would be that they could only visit during the monsoon season, which would, in effect, leave them ‘out in the rain’.

On the last banking day of the year he planned to close the joint bank account, and give his lover a weekly allowance in cash. Not that there was much left in the account. After paying off her gambling debts, the balance was miniscule and was hardly worth the bother. He also planned to sell their car and buy two motorbikes. Apparently his lady is a manic driver and since the car is in the shop for accident repairs more often than on the road, this seemed a sensible solution. Two motorcycles would leave him covered for transportation - one always in the repair shop and one still fit to drive.

I mentioned hospital and life insurance and he added it to the list. Of course he thought I mean coverage for HER. I was actually suggesting he take the policies out on himself since I figured he would be in deep ‘ca-ca’ once he sprang these surprises on his girlfriend come January 2nd.

My candid friend who so generously shared his new plans for 2004 prompted a few comments from others at the bar. One man said he’d been a drunk for so many years that it was time to shape up. A switch from gin to vodka was his idea of saving his liver, since he’d heard that vodka was not as rough as gin. I agreed it was a great idea - if he planned to keep the vodka in the bottle and not ingest it.

As our lively conversation continued, more people gathered to contribute. An elderly German couple who were vacationing in Pattaya said they had also made some resolutions. Topping their list was another holiday in Thailand. They had heard that Pattaya had an unsavory reputation (who hasn’t) but declared they were enjoying themselves so much that they would return next year for a longer stay. According to them the only drawback they’d encountered was that they had both gained 8 kilos gorging on Thai cuisine.

The bar girl who had been serving us vowed that come the New Year, she would learn to drive and asked for volunteers to teach her. After the prolonged pause invoked an embarrassing silence, Sir Galahad with the leveraged liver - now well into his cups - made an offer. I winced and briefly considered a career as an insurance salesperson. I was certainly in the midst of some prospective clients.

“No more trips upcountry to the family rice farm,” declared a newcomer to our group. After years of bi-annual visits to his wife’s family village, his pitiful pension could no longer sustain the increasing demands for upkeep of an extended family, most of whom he’d never met. “Just how many brothers and sisters can one woman have in a family?” he pondered. “Every time I go there they seem to multiply like double-entry bookkeeping.”

I hid my smirk. Lovely Thai nymphs often ‘cook the books’ when cohabitating with a ‘farang’. It seemed unkind to point out the obvious during the season that promotes “Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Man”. A 30-year age difference does have its rewards for both parties, and I withheld the usual caustic remark.

One man had decided to finally bring his alimony payments up to their current status. His ex-wife lives in Canada and although he sends no remittances during the rest of the year, when the holiday season comes round, he feels guilty and pays in one lump sum. An American woman in our group was startled at the revelation. She had come to Thailand to look up her ‘ex’ and extract the amount of money he still owed her. The look in her eye was pure malice and I got the impression she would collect her pound of flesh even if the body-part went back home with her in one of those ice-coolers medics use to transport ‘living’ hearts and kidneys.

I haven’t yet made any resolutions for 2004. I still wait for inspiration. Meanwhile, I want to wish our readers a happy, prosperous and healthy New Year and may 2004 bring joy to you all!